Development is the phase where things get exciting. Teams make the interface functional one part at a time. Large overwhelming projects will be split up into smaller more manageable parts that individuals may work on. In any program, developers will run into problems and be forced to make trade-offs. For example, one tradeoff we made in designing the Flash project was when we switched to using 3D Home Architect from using 3D Studio MAX. Our team determined that the same quality images could be created with 3D Home Architect as 3D Studio Max but in less time. There would be a slight difference between the look of the previous team's project and ours, but the amount of time saved could allow for more testing time.
The most important suggestion we have for inspiring developers is to get started early! If they can put in the extra effort early on, it will save them from having to pull all-nighters as deadlines approach. Also, it will give them the extra time to add in cool features. A stable final product with cool features means the client is happy and that hopefully means a nice paycheck!
One of the most important stages of software development is the testing process. It is helpful to assign the role of Test Group Leader to manage the process. This person will be responsible for creating a testing metric. A metric is a list of steps that each person will go through while they are testing. This is important because it ensures that nothing is skipped over or forgotten. Sometimes creating tools to analyze your testing results is helpful. One popular method of creating these testing metrics is the use of personas. A persona is a description of a typical user of the product the developer is creating. The Test Group Leader will talk with the client to figure out how each type of person will be expected to use the software, creating a list of steps to test.
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To contact the director of the S2S Project, send email to Vicki L. Almstrum, almstrum@cs.utexas.edu or write to her at The Department of Computer Sciences C0500, The University of Texas at Austin, TAY 2.124, Austin, TX, USA 78712.